Corruption
by Long-Vuong
Summary: Eight years ago, Arthur Kirkland left the spy agency MI6 to take care of his children. Now, a mysterious buisnessman has kidnapped them, leaving only a note behind. Can Arthur save his kids- and the world - from corruption? Spy AU, human names used.
1. 1976 Buckham Street

_Time: Midnight_

_Place: A lonely road on the outskirts of London_

Arthur walked quickly along the edge of the road. It was a cold winter night, and the heavy jacket he was wearing didn't do much to stop the chill. Shivering, he stopped for a moment to readjust his scarf and hat.

After a few minutes, he arrived at a run-down house just off of the main road. Reaching into his pocket, he fumbled with a piece of paper that had a note and address written on it.

It said:

_Meet me at this address at midnight if you ever want to see you beloved children again. Come alone. Do not tell MI6._

_-Ivan Braginsky_

_1976 Buckham Street_

Arthur scowled at the contents of the note, but quickly checked the address of the house and the address on the note. They were the same.

Walking up to the door, he quickly scanned the area for booby traps, cameras, trip wires and the like. There was nothing.

Part of him, the one that was the spy, warned him that the whole place was probably a trap. The other part, the father, caretaker and dad, told him that any risk was worth it for the kids.

Arthur sighed. He hadn't seen Alfred and Matthew in three days. They were probably scared to death right now.

Wishing that he had went ahead and told MI6, he walked up to the door and knocked politely. Waiting a few seconds, he knocked again.

The door slowly creaked open. A woman with unusual violet eyes and nearly platinum blonde hair peered out. "Are you Arthur Kirkland?" she growled.

"Indeed. May I ask, what is your name?"

"Natalia. The rest is unimportant."

She stared at him in such a way that his hand involuntarily strayed towards the handgun he kept near at all times.

"Come," she said. "Big Brother Ivan wants to see you."

Suddenly, she lashed out with the syringe she had been concealing in her left hand and stabbed Arthur in the forearm, injecting him with whatever strange chemical was in there.

Caught by surprise, Arthur staggered backwards but wasn't quick enough to dodge it. Wincing, he clutched his arm where the needle had gone in.

His vision went blurry as the drug started to take its full effect. Dropping to his knees, he tried fighting it, but it was too strong. Everything was…so tiring…

Arthur toppled to the ground, out cold. Natalia smirked at his easy defeat. Could this have really been the famous Arthur Kirkland, the one that every villain and terrorist feared? Then again, eight years of taking care of his beloved children must have made him soft.

Picking Arthur up by his jacket, she dragged him around back and tossed him unceremoniously into the trunk of a waiting van. Climbing into the front seat, Natalia shouted at the driver to step on it in Russian.

She smirked. Big Brother Ivan would be pleased with her tonight.

* * *

**In this AU, Alfred and Matthew are around six or seven years old. ********Also, this story is very loosely based off of the book _Alex Rider: Stormbreaker _by Anthony Horowitz.**

**R****ecently I have been reading too many spy novels. It seemed that the villain was always Russian, the spy British and the supporting character American.**

**Therefore, this was born. **

**- Long-Vuong**


	2. In the Lion's Den

_Time: ? ? ?_

_Place: ? ? ?_

Arthur felt groggy. Everything hurt. Blinking, he groaned and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

His hand didn't move. He tried lifting the other one.

It didn't move either.

He shook his head and blinked again. With his vision clearing, up, the vague outlines of furniture and a large, curved desk appeared. Suddenly, the memories of the past night's events came flooding in.

Arthur struggled to stand up, but realized he was bound to the metal chair he was sitting on by chains. How cliché.

As his vision cleared, blurred squiggles became crisp, clean lines, and Ivan Braginsky appeared before him, sitting in a comfortable chair behind the desk he had seen before. A rather large, bluish-gray cat lay on his lap, purring contentedly.

"Ah! Our guest is awake, da?" said the man with a faint Russian accent. Gently shooing the cat off his lap, he stood up. Ivan strode towards Arthur and leaned uncomfortably close to his face. "Are you feeling okay? Do you have any aches or pains?" He produced a small light and studied Arthur's eyes for a moment. "Good, you don't seem to be in shock."

Arthur noticed that the man was wearing a long, thick cream-colored scarf. It seemed to have been spattered in blood on one side. He shivered.

After a moment, Arthur said, "Where am I? Where are my children? I want to see them." He had a sinking feeling that Ivan had something nasty in store for him.

"Be patient, comrade," Ivan scolded. "I have a story to tell you."

And so, Ivan launched into the details of his malicious plan.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter... Anyways, Alex Rider and Hetalia do not belong to me. **

**This particular chapter was actually based off of an old spy roleplay (with pencil, paper, letters, mailboxes and stamps) that I did with my friend a while ago.**

**- Long-Vuong**


	3. MI6 Special Operations

_Time: Midnight, the day before_

_Place: A bank on Liverpool Street, London_

At this time of night, the bank services in the front were closed. Not a single living thing stirred. However, it was a different story in the back. The workers, specialists, technicians and field agents lent the place a lively air.

This was the residence of MI6 - Special Operations.

Inside a secure room, a computer specialist was tracking Arthur Kirkland using a microchip that had been implanted eight years ago. "Mr. Kirkland is heading east on Buckham Street," she said loudly to Mr. Berwald Oxenstierna, the head and chief executive of Special Operations.

"I c'n see th't already, Lilli."

"O-oh. Yes, sir," she stammered. She turned back to her computer.

"I didn't know that Arthur could be so impulsive," said a voice from behind him. It was Elizabeta Hedevary, the deputy head of MI6. "Then again, after he and Francine had kids, everything changed. He'll do anything for them."

"Mm." Mr. Oxenstierna, also called Mr. O due to his unpronounceable last name, seemed to agree.

"I wish he could have told us about the situation before he set off. We could've sent in backup or something. At this rate, he'll be dead and gone before we know it."

"Elizabeta, you kn'w th't MI6 doesn't support d'ngerous operations th't don't h've any effect on the st'te of Great Brit'in," huffed Mr. O in his gruff manner. "Th' business with th' ch'ldren is a j'b for th' police."

"Sir!" said Lilli. "A subject has appeared on the tracking frequency."

'Subject' was the code name for a person assumed to be a 'bad guy'.

"That was quick," said Ms. Hedervary. "It seems to be a simple case of kidnapping. I think Arthur should be able to handle this easily."

A few minutes passed. Suddenly, Lilli started to panic. "Mr. Kirkland's vital signs are dropping!" she cried. This got the attention of the rest of the specialists in the room. Nothing this intense had happened all week.

Seconds ticked by. "Antonio! G't me a visual!" shouted Mr. O.

"On it, sir," said Antonio, who sat close to Lilli.

Mr. O, Ms. Hedervary and a few passing agents crowded around Lilli's and Antonio's desks. On Lilli's computer was a screen that looked like a submarine radar, complete with dots for people and little 'waves' of a special frequency specific to Arthur's microchip. On Antonio's computer, however, was the grainy black-and-white feed from one of the many outdated security cameras that were scattered around the countryside. From a distance, you could see two blurry figures, one standing up and the other slowly keeling over and finally falling to the ground.

"Mr. Kirkland's vital signs have stabilized," reported Lilli. "Heartbeat and breathing is slow but steady. The subject must have given him some sort of sleeping pill or injection."

Mr. O and Elizabeta watched as the mysterious subject dragged Arthur into a van or truck of some kind behind the house and drove off.

"Lukas! Wang! I w'nt visual on th't truck immed'ately. Don't lose it!" Mr. O barked.

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir -aru!"

"Kiku, Felix, g'ther intel. Let's see who's b'hind this."

"Y-yes."

"Like, totally."

Elizabeta turned toward Mr. O. "Berwald, shouldn't you be taking this more seriously? We need to be paying attention to monitoring general crime and the patrols as well! Who's going to take care of that for us?"

"G've it to Sector 2. Th'y aren't doing anyth'ng r'ght now."

"If you say so, Sir." Elizabeta walked downstairs to brief the specialists in Sector Two. Secretly, though, she thought to herself, _There hasn't been an incident like this in years! Now's when things start to get exciting._

* * *

**This is something of a side story that happens 'behind the scenes' at MI6. The international bank HQ idea comes from Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz.**

**I do not own Alex Rider or Hetalia.**

**Special thanks to SharinganWeasel, Otaku Overlord, and especially Ember Hinote (2 reveiws! Wow!) for reviewing.**

**I wrote "O" instead of "Oxenstierna" because I kept on misspelling it... and got lazy...**

**- Long-Vuong**


	4. MI6 Special Operations Part Two

_Time: Early Morning_

_Place: MI6 Headquarters_

"Ms. Hedervary! The van has stopped on the far side of London!" Lilli said, reading the coordinates showing on Mr. Kirkland's microchip signal.

"It's the Miracells Tower," said Antonio, looking closely at the video feed. "But from this angle the cameras can't see the van anymore. We'll have to rely on Lilli's feed for now."

They had been monitoring Arthur for hours, trying to figure out the motive for the kidnapping. But right now, nothing was clear and as Mr. O said, it was too early to do anything drastic.

Ms. Hedervary studied the Miracells Tower with curiosity. "Eduard!" she called. "I want all of the information on Miracells you can find."

"Yes ma'am."

Kiku, another information specialist, ran up to her. "I have pictures from satellite intelligence." The first couple of pictures were of the van's license plate, but the last few were enlarged shots of a woman's face.

The van was stolen from a car dealership somewhere in Bristol. The woman's name was Natalia Arlovskaya, and apparently she was the sister of Ivan Braginsky, the head of Miracells. An interesting fact about her was that she had married a billionaire husband who had mysteriously disappeared a week after the wedding. The fortune she had been left with had been completely donated to Miracells after the funeral.

A couple of minutes later, Eduard stated, "Miracells has a clean slate. Other than having a bumpy first couple of years on the market, it now makes trillions of dollars. The weird thing is that its sales to the public have remained about the same from the beginning."

"Hmm. Is there anything else?" Elizabeta asked.

"Well, apparently five years ago a Lars-something-or-other from the Netherlands was caught selling illegal drugs. He was a Miracells employee at the time and apparently he claimed that the drugs were produced by Miracells itself. The police did an investigation but nothing turned up." Eduard read a couple more paragraphs on the website he was on. "It seems the night before his trial Lars was murdered in his jail cell. The next morning he was found dead on the floor."

Elizabeta Hedervary was now officially intrigued with this case. Something fishy was going on with Miracells, and she was determined to find out.

About half an hour later, nothing had happened. Three-quarters of the specialists had already gone back to their daily schedules. Mr. O and Ms. Hedervary had left to deal with some important business that involved national security.

Eduard von Bock had been requested to research the background of Miracells by Ms. Hedervary. The pharmaceutical giant seemed to deal mainly in painkillers. As Eduard delved deeper into the history of the company, he found something…shocking.

By looking at more criminal records and crime reports over the years, there seemed to be a pattern. A former employee of a pharmaceutical company was caught selling illegal drugs. The employee then claimed that the drugs came from said pharmaceutical company. Then the night before the trial, the former employee would be murdered. The medical company wouldn't always be named outright, but Eduard had no doubts about it: it was Miracells every time.

It was like something out of a bad detective story, but on a much, _much_ grander scale. Reports originated from far off places such as Cameroon, Romania, Macau, and Seychelles. They occurred decades before as well as just last year.

The most mysterious part was that neither the police nor the special operations of any country could figure out what was going on. Even MI6 had wool pulled over its eyes.

The question was, how? And why?

Eduard printed yet another paper for Ms. Hedervary, putting it in a folder complete with TOP SECRET stamped in scarlet.

* * *

**Sorry for the double MI6 chapters. Chapter 3 actually happened around the time that Chapter 1 did, so I had to put in Chapter 4, which corresponds with Chapter 2.**

**We'll get back to Arthur and Ivan, I promise!**

**- Long-Vuong**


	5. Insane Enough to Kill

_Time: ? ? ?_

_Place: Ivan's office, Miracells Tower_

"As you may or may not know," Ivan began, "I am the head of a very large pharmaceutical company. You understand, da?"

Arthur grunted. There wasn't a whole lot he could do at the moment.

"This company is called Miracells. When it first started, its drugs and pills did not do well on the normal market. So, we found another place to sell our products: the black market."

Ivan started slowly walking towards the far side of the room, deliberately making each step loud and slow. "Ever since," he continued, "we have made more money than any normal, law-abiding one could ever dream of! Our company now controls nearly every black market on the planet!" He slowed to a halt as he reached his desk, his back to Arthur. "We offer anything to anyone, in fact. Addicts, middlemen, the rich, the poor-"

At this point Arthur wasn't paying attention to Ivan's gloating. Studying the chains, he determined that there was enough slack to let him slip through. Slowly, he writhed his way out of the dreadful metal chair, fervently hoping that Ivan wouldn't turn around…

He was free! Slowly backing away from the chair, Arthur reached for his pistol, a Belgian-made semiautomatic.

However, Arthur didn't notice Ivan watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"It is very rude to walk away in the middle of someone's storytelling, da."

Ivan turned around, holding a murderously heavy looking lead pipe.

Arthur bit back a curse. "If you even twitch I will kill you, Braginsky," he said, aiming for the chief of Miracells.

"I dare you to try." Ivan smirked.

"Suit yourself." Arthur pulled the trigger.

Click.

"Wha-?" Click. Click. Clickclickclickclick.

In that moment of hesitation, Ivan dashed forwards with amazing speed and swung the lead pipe at Arthur's head. Barely given time to even blink, he was sent tumbling across the floor and hit the opposite wall with a sickening thud.

His head pounding, Arthur moaned and tried to drag himself to his feet, to no avail. Every light, every sound, and every motion was making him dizzy and nauseous.

Ivan grinned triumphantly. "Silly man. Did you really think that I would overlook such an obvious weapon? While you were… asleep, I took the time to remove the bullets from your puny handgun."

Arthur let loose a string of curses.

Ivan silenced him with a swift kick to the side. "Now," he said, "Let me finish my story. Where was I… Ah, I remember." He cleared his throat. "Miracells offers anything to anyone. However, there is one market we haven't been successful in." He paused dramatically. "This market is in super villains. Not the ones you find in comic books. They are real people like you and I that have access to money, have power, and have a bone to pick with the 'good guys'. However, most of these 'villains' are very suspicious and superstitious people. So, in order to gain their trust," he continued, "one must put on a show of faith. Understand, da?"

Arthur didn't move.

"Therefore, as a show of faith I have decided to kill you and your family. Especially since you yourself have personally destroyed something of value to them. Plots to destroy religious leaders, plans to kill the entire population of North America, schemes of destruction, conspiracies to take over the world… The list goes on and on. What's more," he added, "is that I have also decided to perform the execution using a newly designed superbug, Project Corruption. It is a very nasty, destructive, and painful virus, with the unique ability to be programmed to kill in a certain amount of time. In essence, I am… how do you English say it… 'killing two birds with one stone.' I am both gaining their trust and advertis-"

Struggling to his feet, Arthur snatched his empty handgun from the floor and flung it in Ivan's face. Surprised, Ivan faltered for a moment, allowing Arthur to make a run for it. Just as he reached the door, though, he felt something icily sharp slide against his neck.

"Do not even think of leaving yet," a woman's voice said.

"Ah, I see you've met my most loyal bodyguard, Natalia," said Ivan. "Put that knife away, you're scaring our guest…" Natalia quickly obeyed, sliding her deadly-looking dagger back into its sheath.

Ivan turned to Arthur. Grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off the floor as if he weighed no more than a feather, Ivan snarled, "Your antics are beginning to annoy me. It would be wise not to make me angry, da."

Gasping for air, Arthur said, "You…are crazy. Any other…normal…person would never go to these lengths…for money! You're not only insane but…insane enough to kill!"

Arthur let out a gasp as Ivan tightened his grip enough to nearly crush his windpipe. Grinning wickedly, Ivan proceeded to squeeze tighter and tighter until suddenly Arthur went limp. Dropping him to the floor, Ivan looked at Natalia. "Has the video feed with the others been secured?"

"Yes."

"Get the children, then. This man is beginning to annoy me, so start the conference as soon as possible."

"I will do anything for you, big brother." Natalia slunk away.

When she had left the room, Ivan tried to let himself relax. There was always the possibility of failure, especially when it involved someone like Arthur who was trained to escape in such situations. Plus, the fact that his sister Natalia's presence unnerved him didn't help.

Abruptly and unexpectedly, Arthur lashed out with all his strength, kicking Ivan in the knee and temporarily crippling the man. Having only pretended to be unconscious, Arthur had actually been waiting for the right time to strike.

Rushing out the door, Arthur wondered how much time he had before Natalia caught up to him, ready for the kill.

* * *

**The trick that Arthur uses to get out of the chains is actually used by escape artists. I've read about it, so I ended up putting it here.**

**I do not own Alex Rider or Hetalia. **

**- Long-Vuong**


	6. On the Run

_Time: Noon_

_Place: Hallway, 5th Floor Miracells Tower_

Arthur raced down the hallway as alarms started to blare and red lights started flashing. Passing a few surprised security guards, he managed to make it to the next floor without too much trouble. The recording of a woman's voice played over the loudspeakers. "_Alert. Alert. An armed thief has entered the building and is attempting to escape. All office personnel please stay calm and go to the nearest exit. Alert. Alert. An armed-_" The voice repeated itself over and over.

Of course Arthur wasn't armed, and he definitely wasn't a thief. However, most security guards and/or angry henchmen in these situations tended to shoot first and ask later.

A door opened up ahead of him. Somewhat surprised, Arthur slowed down his pace and tried to act like just another office worker.

"-and I said to him, 'The deadline is in two days and if we don't make it we're screwed,' but all he did was ignore me! So I had to- Oh, sorry."

"Oh, excuse me."

Arthur had nonchalantly bumped into the man. Still on his cell phone, the worker continued to walk down the hall.

Arthur walked towards the nearest stairwell. In his hands he held the office worker's pass card, which he had snatched from the man's pocket. Though he really didn't like pickpocketing, the card might come in handy later.

About halfway to the third floor, a group of armed guards came racing down the stairs. "Hey, Mister!" said the one that was obviously in charge. "Did you see a man with a gun running down the stairs?"

Arthur tried not to laugh at their obvious stupidity. "No, I haven't," he said.

The guard looked at him strangely. "Hey, I haven't seen you before. Are you new?"

"Why yes," said Arthur. "Today's my first day."

"Oh, okay. Good luck, mister…"

"Mr. Rider." It was the first thing Arthur could think of.

"Good luck Mr. Rider!"

Arthur continued down the stairs as the guards rushed back up. Suddenly, the worker that he had pickpocketed earlier ran to the security guards.

"Did you get him?" he practically yelled.

"No, the only guy there was some newbie with dirty blonde hair and green eyes."

"You bloody git! THAT WAS HIM!"

"Hey, no need for language… What?"

"THE NEWBIE IS THE THEIF!" the angry man yelled.

"Oh. Okay." The security guard gestured to his comrades. "Let's move!"

In that short amount of time, Arthur had gotten all the way to the second floor of the skyscraper and was making his way across a sea of workers.

The security guards had tried to follow him but had instead been caught in the immense crowd. It was so loud with everyone was shouting about overdue papers or lunch break or too much noise that nobody heard the guards shout, "Get him! He's the thief!"

Actually, it was so loud that nobody had even noticed the alarm going off with its flashing red lights and robotic voice. "_Alert. Alert. An armed thief_-"

Making his way across the crowd, Arthur hid inside a nearby cubicle as an enraged guard barreled past.

Then he felt cold steel slide across his neck. "Natalia."

"Привет, Kirkland," she said, pushing the knife deeper into his throat. "Your actions have annoyed Big Brother very much."

"It's not my fault that my children and I got kidnapped. By your organization, I must add."

"Silence," she hissed. "Big Brother has been waiting for you. Now move!" She pushed him forwards, keeping her knife at his throat.

* * *

**The bit of Russian that Natalia is saying is pronounced privet or privyet and means hello.**

**I do not own Alex Rider or Hetalia.**

**- Long-Vuong **


	7. MI6 Special Operations Part Three

_Time: Noon_

_Place: MI6 Headquarters_

Ms. Hedervary read over the papers. "This is worse than I thought," she said aloud. "Anyways, good work, Eduard."

"Thanks." He walked out of the room.

She turned to Mr. O. "Can we do anything about this?" she asked.

"Techn'cally, yes. H'wever, the s'tuation is rather del'cate with hostages on the l'ne."

"Mm. What can we do about this…?" Elizabeta thought for a moment. "Say, where did Lilli and Antonio go…?"

"You want me to do what?"

Lilli and Antonio were talking with Cody, one of the helicopter pilots. "We're really worried about Mr. Kirkland," said Lilli.

"He's got himself stuck in a bad situation," said Antonio. "Him and his little niños, Alfred and what's-his-name…Matthew."

"So you're saying that you want me to fly a rescue mission across London."

"Yes." Lilli smiled hopefully.

"To save some old fart and his kiddos."

"Sí," said Antonio.

"Plus the fact that I might get fired if this goes wrong." Cody crossed his arms. "That's probably the worst plan I've ever heard."

Lilli and Antonio looked crestfallen.

"Well, you're lucky that you asked me, mates. Of course I'll do it!" said Cody, sporting a huge grin.

Elizabeta looked over Wang's shoulder. "Contact Team 2," she said. "I need them to help with a hostage situation at Miracells Tower."

"Yes ma'am -aru!"

"Lukas, brief them on the mission,"

"Yes ma'am."

Ms. Hedervary headed towards the office for the weapons and gadgetry specialists. There was still a lot of work to be done…

"Hello, Vash."

"…Did I give you permission to come in?"

"Of course not." Elizabeta sat down. "Listen, there's been an incident in Miracells Tower and I need you to give Team 2 some of your weapons and if possible, some of the gadgetry."

"Why?"

"Because this incident involves an international criminal organization and has an ongoing hostage situation."

"Hmm. Tell me more about this 'Miracells Tower." Vash said, picking up one of the weapons lying around on the countertop (this particular one was a laser-sighted M-60 7.62-mm machine gun) and beginning to polish it.

"It's a bit complicated, but it goes something like this…"

* * *

**It's MI6 again! In a short chapter as well... Cody is the name I'm using for Australia.**

**Alex Rider and Hetalia do not belong to me.**

**- Long-Vuong**


	8. Fragile

_Time: Noon_

_Place: Video Conference Room, 15th Floor_

This time, Ivan was seated at the head of an enormous room, a television monitor the size of a small school bus behind him. The screen was divided into six parts; in each section was a different person's face, video-conference style.

Natalia shoved Arthur into the center of the room. He could almost feel all of the freezing stares in the room go directly to him.

Ivan, who had apparently been conversing with the people on the screen, turned around to look. "Speaking of them, here they are now."

"Hello," said Arthur. "I didn't think that I would see you again so soon."

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur inspected the large glass window. Was it thin enough to break…?

"So... How do we know your little virus thing works?" asked a Middle Eastern man on the bottom right corner of the screen. He was wearing a white mask that twitched whenever he spoke.

"Be patient, comrade," said Ivan. He then gestured to a guard that was standing near the doorway. "You there. Bring in the children."

"Yes sir!" The man walked out of the room for a second, then came back in dragging two small, nearly identical blonde children. One of the children had a gravity defying cowlick and the other had a curl on the side of his head.

Both were unresponsive. They were probably drugged.

Ivan turned to the television screen. "My friends," he said, like he was addressing a large crowd. "I have promised you the execution of your hated foe, Arthur Kirkland, and his family as well."

He withdrew out of his pocket a syringe with an opaque, silvery liquid inside. "This," he said, "is Project Corruption, the newest of my company's inventions." Ivan paused dramatically. "It is a mechanical virus-like organism that is programmed to kill at a set time. This particular sample," Ivan said, inspecting the syringe with malicious delight, "kills two minutes after contact. One ounce of Corruption costs around a trillion dollars, and the vaccine- no, more like the antidote- for it costs even more. But even one ounce is potent and contagious enough to kill the entire population of Britain." Ivan looked back at the monitor. "That would make it very useful for many of your…plans, da?"

A few of the people onscreen nodded in agreement. The masked man, however, still had his doubts. "How do we know that you're not swindling us? I've had a fair share of con men in my time."

"The demonstrations should convince you well enough," Ivan said to him. "Well then, this this is the part you've all been waiting for," he announced to the five others onscreen.

Walking over to the two captive boys, he grabbed one by the collar. Holding the boy up, he asked, "What's your name, little one?"

"Al…Alfred."

"Do you have any last words?" Ivan seemed to be enjoying Arthur's pained look as he said the infamous line.

Suddenly, in a flurry of motion Arthur threw his head back, squarely hitting Natalia's face. She faltered, allowing him to escape her grip and dash over to Alfred and Matthew.

The security guard that had brought in the two children was now nervously taking his gun out, fumbling a bit with the holster. With a swift kick, Arthur sent the man's gun flying.

Ivan was dangerously close to injecting Alfred with the virus now, and Natalia had recovered from the initial surprise. Drawing a knife, she lunged at Arthur with a shriek.

Dodging Natalia's deadly onslaught, Arthur jumped past her and gave a solid right hook to Ivan's nose. Then, he nabbed Alfred and Matthew from the ground and headed towards the doorway.

More and more security guards were flooding in. Finding the door blocked, Arthur turned to the only other exit he could think of. Making sure that Alfred and Matthew were firmly in his grip, he jumped through the window.

The glass shattered instantaneously with a sharp tinkling noise as pieces hit the floor. Some of the guards had open fired, but Ivan knew that the man was already gone.

Freefalling was not a pleasant sensation. Fifteen stories above the ground, Arthur tried to grab ahold of the ledge beneath the window.

However, he lost his grip and went plummeting down to the fourteenth floor. Alfred and Matthew, shocked out of their stupor by the fall, gripped tightly to Arthur's hands.

CLANG!

Something cold, hard and metallic rang out as the three dropped in on a very surprised window washer. They had somehow fallen into the window washer's platform, and were now entangled in a few of the gears and pulleys.

"Terribly sorry to be dropping in on you like this," Arthur said, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Um… It's alright…" said the window washer, looking a little shaken.

Alfred and Matthew struggled to get themselves untangled from the pulley system. Matthew had managed to get his shirtsleeve stuck.

As the window washer and Arthur were conversing, Alfred tried to pull Matthew out, but failed. Trying again, he lost his balance and backed into a lever that controlled the platform's movements, causing it to advance upwards.

Ivan and Natalia were surprised when Arthur and his two kids passed the broken window in some window washer's platform. Calling for his security forces to follow them, Ivan started the journey to the roof of the skyscraper.

* * *

**Arthur's having a _really _bad day, isn't he... Anyways, can you guess the character who's on the TV screen? It's pretty easy.**

**What are those window washing platforms called? If anyone knows, please tell me. (The name continues to elude me.)**

**I do not own Alex Rider or Hetalia.**

**- Long-Vuong**


	9. MI6 Special Operations Bonus Chapter

_Time: Noon_

_Place: Outside the Miracells Tower_

A couple of large vans carrying something similar to a SWAT team had assembled in front of the Miracells building. Vash Zwingli, the weapons and gadgets specialist was talking to the leader of Team 2, one of the teams that dealt with terrorists and large-scale criminal organizations.

"So you are Tino Vainamoinen?" Vash asked.

"Yes! I command Team 2, the terrorism and large criminal organization unit," said Tino. "Right now, we're just looking into and investigating this place. Since Mr. O says that Miracells is a large-scale drug exporting operation, the only thing we can do is investigate. We're kind of just acting like the local police would."

"Then why am I here?" Vash huffed, slightly miffed. "I have no business in a place with no need for weaponry."

"Ms. Hedervary said that she needed someone to report on the situation to her, right?" said Tino. "She told you that already, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, then you should be reporting to her! Especially since your sister Lilli works in her department."

"Okay…"

* * *

**A really, really short bonus chapter that shows what MI6's active team is doing right now...**

**- Long-Vuong**


	10. Fight to the Finish

_Time: Noon_

_Place: Miracells Tower Rooftop_

It seemed that Arthur's fall had disrupted the platform's ability to go down, so he, his sons, and the window washer ended up traveling all the way to the roof of the building.

The window washer was taking this all in remarkably well. He didn't freak out at all when the first of Ivan's forces came running out onto the roof, and instead just went back to his (now damaged) platform.

Soon, Ivan's forces had Arthur surrounded. Alfred and Matthew clung to Arthur, both of them shivering in fear.

Ivan walked towards them menacingly, holding the lead pipe he had used before. Natalia was clutching two knives, one in each hand as she walked in behind him.

"I'm getting tired of games," said Ivan. "You have ruined nearly every aspect of my plans. I am beginning to see why so many people hate you."

Little Alfred spoke up. "People don't hate Daddy! He's a hero!"

"Yes, he's a hero," said Matthew, his voice nearly carried away by the wind.

Ivan regarded them coldly. "Being a hero isn't going to save you now," he said. Pausing, he took out the syringe filled with Corruption. "Let's make a deal," he said to Arthur after a few seconds. "I want you to kill your children, then yourself. If you refuse, then I will release Corruption into the air around us. All of London- in fact, all of Great Britain- will die if I do so. You don't have much of a choice."

Arthur stood there nervously. He didn't have any gadgets now, and there was nothing he could do.

Or was there?

Fishing out the keycard he had stolen, Arthur took it out with a flourish. "You've underestimated me," he said. "This is an ingenious gadget that MI6 designed. It's a bug; in other words, every single word of your conversation from the start of this misadventure has been recorded and sent to MI6. They're on their way right now."

Of course, Arthur was bluffing. Hopefully, Braginsky would fall for it.

"You," Ivan hissed. He was furious now, nearly boiling over in anger. "Natalia! I want them gone. Everyone present here. Leave no survivors."

"…Yes, Big Brother."

The guards were getting nervous now. None of them had been expecting this, and to them, the first thing to do would be to run.

The second the first few guards started breaking formation and running, Natalia cut them down without batting an eye. With a savage look in her eye, she started slashing and hacking her way through everyone and everything in her path.

Ivan swung his lead pipe at Arthur, the end nearly missing the spy's face by millimeters. Leaping to avoid the blow, he pushed aside Alfred and Matthew out of the way and rushed towards Ivan. Moving lightly on his feet, he feinted to the left then kicked Braginsky in the stomach.

Falling back, Ivan barely winced. Dashing forwards, he moved in for the kill.

They exchanged a flurry of punches and kicks, each blow harder than the last. Feints and counterblows, right hooks and solid blows, everything was a blur until Arthur realized he was standing just on the edge of the building.

"It is a long way down, da?"

Glancing at the drop behind him, Arthur realized that if he went any farther, he would fall off the side of the tower. Just the sight of the long way down made him snap back to attention.

The wind was getting stronger now, and Ivan was but inches away from Arthur's face.

"How does it feel like to stare death in the face?" the businessman smiled coldly.

"Exhilarating." Watching the direction some of the debris on the rooftop was blowing, Arthur predicted that there would be a huge gust in three, two, one…

Delivering a powerful roundhouse kick, Arthur knocked Ivan off balance as an enormous blast of wind rushed through. In less than a second, the head of Miracells was dangling off the top of the skyscraper.

"You're right, it is quite a long way down," said Arthur.

"Tch."

Ivan looked somewhere between scared and furious to be in such a position. Scrabbling for a foothold, he tried to climb back to the safety of the roof, but Arthur stopped him.

"All of your plans have failed, Braginsky. MI6 will bring you to justice." He said.

There was a pause. "Are you confident about that, Kirkland?"

"I'm pretty sure that my family and I have ruined a lot of things for you."

Natalia had finished off the last guard and was creeping towards Arthur, knife poised to strike. Absorbed in conversation, Arthur made the mistake of letting his guard down.

A gunshot rang through the air.

Everyone turned towards the origin of the noise and there stood Alfred, holding one of the deceased security guard's guns.

"Shoo, lady!" he cried, shooting badly aimed bullets in Natalia's direction.

She hissed and ducked out of the way. Arthur followed suit, trying not to be hit by his son's horrible aim.

As the two reached a clearer area, Natalia swung her knife and slashed Arthur just below his collarbone, leaving a shallow scratch that bled profusely.

Dodging her next swing, he shoved an elbow into her ribs and punched her with his free hand. Natalia winced a bit and barreled towards Arthur, holding her knife like a dagger. Jumping into the air, Arthur executed a backflip and landed behind her.

In haste Natalia attempted to land a sideways slash. He turned and avoided her by a hair.

Frustrated, she lunged at the man in an all-out attempt to hack him to pieces. Sliding behind her, Arthur pinched a pressure point on the back of her neck and in a second Natalia was knocked out.

Ivan swung himself up over the ledge and advanced toward the child, swinging his lead pipe menacingly. Oblivious to the tall man coming up behind him, Alfred kept on firing the pistol in random directions.

Just as Ivan was about to bring the pipe down on Alfred's head, Matthew ran up and bit him.

Shouting choice insults in Russian, Ivan tried to shake the boy off to no avail. Grabbing the two, Ivan was about to bash their heads together when a shot rang out.

As the sedative took effect, Ivan attempted one last swing at the two boys. Had he been brought down by mere children? Everything turned black, and he passed out.

"G'day mates!" Cody shouted from the helicopter, an old Huey. "How d'ya like my shooting?"

Arthur stepped over and inspected the colorful dart in Ivan's back. "Aren't those usually used to sedate animals?"

"Maybe." Cody shrugged. "Anyways, let's get you guys the heck out of here. Kids first!"

As Cody lowered the helicopter, Arthur hoisted Alfred and Matthew up into the seats.

"How did you know we were here?" asked Arthur on the flight back.

"The guys at MI6 were monitoring you. You've got some sorta chip in your shoulder or something," shouted Cody over the noise of the engine.

"What? There's a chip-"

"Plus some people were worried about you in HQ. That's why I'm here. It was rescue mission stuff and so on to save you and your kiddos and the world," he interrupted. "Anyways, I better call Tino to pick up Braginsky back there. When the sedative wears off, he'll be hopping mad!"

Holding Alfred and Matthew closer, Arthur watched as black vans gathered near Miracells Tower and agents began streaming in. Soon, Natalia and Ivan would be brought to justice like they deserved, and the whole misadventure would be over with.

But why did he feel so uneasy? Trying to settle himself down, Arthur stared out the window and watched as the city of London flashed by.

* * *

**Arthur, what have you been teaching Alfred? He somehow mysteriously knows how to shoot a gun...**

**A Huey is a type of helicopter.**

** This is the final chapter before the epilogue.**

**- Long-Vuong**


	11. Epilogue and Aftermath

_Time: The next day_

_Place: MI6 Headquarters_

"Don't try t' pull stunts l'ke th't again." Mr. O said firmly, with a stare that could break rock.

"Of course not, sir." Arthur said.

"And you. Cody Irwin, I sh'uld fire you f'r insubordination, but I suppose it w'rked out in th' end. We'll discuss your pun'shment l'ter."

"Yes, sir!" Cody didn't seem overly worried.

It was a new morning and the excitement of the previous day was dying down. Having spent a while in the infirmary for observation and treatment, Arthur was now back in MI6's base of operations. Alfred and Matthew were at home, being zealously guarded by his wife Francine.

It was sort of nostalgic to be back in MI6's main building again after so many years, but there were things that were new as well. New gadgets, new computers, new faces, but it was essentially the same.

"If you two pull any tricks like that again I will send Vash to kill the both of you personally," said Ms. Hedervary as she passed them in the hallway, her eyes twinkling with humor.

Yes, it was like old times.

"Arthur! I've p'lled you out of r'tirement. You've pr'ved yourself c'pable enough t' serve your c'ntry and MI6," shouted Mr. O.

Arthur sighed. It was definitely like old times.

* * *

**I put Australia's last name as Irwin because all I could think of was Steve Irwin.**

**It seems Arthur's been forcibly pulled out of retirement into active duty.**

**I'm considering making this into a series. In Alex Rider: Scorpia, the word **_Scorpia_** stands for **_S_**abotage, **_COR_**ru**_P_**tion, **_I_**ntelligence and **_A_**ssassination. Since I already have Corruption, I could write other stories with the other words. Or, I could just write one unrelated story for each word.**

**In other words, this story has ended but the plotline is not finished. Or something like that.**

**It's sort of an unsatisfactory ending (in my opinion) surrounded by mostly mystery and unanswered questions in the story. **

**Special Thanks to Ember Hinote and all of the others who reviewed and supported me throughout the story. **

**- Long-Vuong**

**(EDIT)**

**I ended up removing a portion of the story that I regretted posting. It had almost nothing to do with the story itself and was meant to serve as a place for a sequel to emerge.**

**However, this portion did not interfere with the main storyline, so rest assured that you have not missed anything.**

**Thanks again for reading.**

**- Long-Vuong**


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